US plans to indict Cuba's Raul Castro, US DOJ official says

By Jana Winter

WASHINGTON, ‌May 14 (Reuters) - ​The ​United States plans to indict Cuba's Raul Castro, a U.S. Department of Justice official ‌said late on Thursday.

The timing of the ⁠potential indictment, which would need to be approved by a ‌grand jury, was not ‌immediately clear, but the official said it sounds imminent.

The potential indictment of the 94-year-old former president ​of Cuba and brother of Fidel Castro is expected to focus on the downing of aircraft, ⁠the official said.

CBS previously reported that the conduct at issue in ​the case relates to Cuba's deadly 1996 shootdown of planes operated by humanitarian group ​Brothers to the Rescue.

The U.S. ‌Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida has been overseeing an effort ⁠to examine potential criminal charges against senior Cuban government officials.

The Trump administration has called the current communist-run government ⁠corrupt and incompetent and is seeking to replace it, despite ​ongoing talks.

Negotiations appeared to have stalled in recent weeks, though on Thursday the Cuban government confirmed it had met with ‌CIA chief John Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe told intelligence officials in Cuba that the U.S. was ‌prepared to engage on economic security issues if ⁠Cuba makes "fundamental changes," a ‌CIA official said.

(Reporting ​by Jana Winter and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Himani ‌Sarkar)

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